|
Copyright ©1998 by TC-Nature |
INTRODUCTION: The
Stick spider is also known as the ogre-faced spider because it has two
enormous round eyes like an ogre. Its scientific name is Deinopidae
Dienopis. This spider looks like a small clump of twigs when it rests
during the day. The female is about 25mm in body length and the male is
about 12mm. It is a rusty brown colour with two humps halfway down the
abdomen. This spider holds its legs in pairs so it looks like it only
has four legs. The male is slender and has large palps.
HABITAT : The
Stick spider lives in the warmer parts of USA, Central and South
America, Africa and Australia. It can be found amongst bushes, shrubs
and tall grass in cool locations along creeks and streams or among rock
shelters. They can also be found in cities, in patches of tall grass or
flowers at the bottom of gardens.
|
PREY: The Stick spider eats
flies, butterflies, beetles, insects and sometimes each other. The Stick
spider catches its prey at night because there are a lot of insects
about and their eyes are good for night vision. It has developed a
special way of catching prey.
 Dangling just above ground it spins a sticky silk net
that it holds between its front legs. With its enlarged eyes, which give
it excellent vision, the spider sees prey approaching and throws the net
over its victim. The captive becomes entangled and the spider then wraps
it into a package. The spider bites the prey and then either eats it
right away or hangs it up to be eaten later. A new net is needed for
each catch.
BREEDING: Summer
is the Stick spiders mating season. The male now has no interest in
eating and spends all his time looking for a female. This is the most
important task of his life. The female produces two to four egg sacs
each containing 60 to 100 eggs. The egg sacs are 10mm in diameter and
are yellow-brown in colour with tiny black spots. They hang from a plant
of blade of grass. The female doesn't do any hunting during this stage
and dies just before the spiderlings hatch. The spiderlings crawl out of
a hole in the top of the sac. They are hardly ever seen because their
camouflage is so good. VENOM: Stick spiders
can bite but they are harmless to humans. When the spider has caught its
prey in its web and wrapped it into a package it then bites its prey
paralysing it with its poisonous venom.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. World Book Encyclopaedia
2. " The Silken Web" A natural history of Australian spiders. by Bert
Simon-Brunet. A Reed Book. Chatswood NSW 1994.
3. Readers Digest Encyclopaedia of Australian Wildlife. 1st Edition. 1997
Sydney.
Information
and pictures were taken from children's projects and where credited to that
child does not claim to be original information. Where possible, permission
to reproduce has been sought. Any infringement of copyright is purely
unintentional.
Click here to
return to the Other Spider's Home Page
|
